Gotham Cemetery
by frangipani blossom
Summary: Takes placed during 'Cornered'. It's the anniversary of his parents' deaths and Dick visits Gotham Cemetery. When he arrives, someone is already waiting for him there... Hints of Dick/Babs R&R (I'm sorry for the bad summary)


**Yay, I finally managed to finish this little ff! I actually began writing it right after Cornered but writer's block prevented me from continuing it - until last week... - Well, I hope you'll enjoy it and I am very, very sorry if I somehow mixed the events happening during 'Cornered' up; I haven't watched that episode since it aired...**

**Oh, and if you spot any errors (grammatical or otherwise), please tell me so I can fix them (and learn from them) :)**

**I do not own Young Justice.**

Gotham Cemetery

Gotham City

April 1, 23:21

A deep, frustrated sigh escaped Dick's lips when he stepped out of the zeta beam that was made to look like an old telephone booth, a sign with "Out Of Order" written on it hanging on the door.

Today had been a total mess and he would gave everything to just pass out on his bed...

But there was one more thing he had to do. He would have done it earlier if he'd had the time, but he had been busy with furnishing the warehouse so that Garfield, Mal, Conner and M'gann had a place to stay. Not to forget that the reasons why the Reach had abducted all the kids were still unclear (hopefully the meeting tomorrow would help resolving that problem...) and the return of the League members that were at Rimbor was not foreseeable...

Sometimes Dick couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the task at hand; Batman wasn't there to deal with these events, so he took his mentor's place and he also was the team's leader, after all – but days like these nearly made him crumble under all the responsibility. But he had to stay strong. For Kaldur. For Artemis. Wally. M'gann. Conner. Tim... Everyone.

At least now he finally had a little time for himself... He knew that he should be out, patrolling Blüdhaven or maybe Gotham, but he had decided to skip patrol for tonight...

Instead of returning to his apartment on the shortest way possible, he had changed into his civvies and zeta'ed himself to Gotham, now making his way to the place he should have been to much earlier: Gotham Cemetery.

The cemetery was quite close to Wayne Manor; the imposing house slowly came to Dick's view while he was going up the small hill that lead him to his destination.

Clutching the bouquet of gerberas - bought at the "24- hours open" flower shop he'd dropped by 5 minutes ago - a little tighter, the former Boy Wonder noticed a figure next to his parents' grave. A small smile stole its way onto his face. Of course she would be here.

He greeted her softly: "Hey Babs."

His friend of many years turned around and returned his greeting in the same manner. Then she gestured to the bottom of the headstone; a single, bright yellow sunflower laid there.

"I wasn't sure if your Mom liked sunflowers or gerberas better," she said in an apologetic tone, chewing her lower lip in insecurity.

Another smile made its way onto the acrobat's face while he was kneeling down to lay the bouquet down next to the other flower.

"She liked both very much," he assured her, "I don't think she preferred one over the other."

His finger gently traced the engraved inscription of the headstone.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad," Dick whispered, "I'm sorry for being late; I would have come earlier if I could have – you wouldn't believe with how much work an alien invasion comes along," a dry chortle escaped his lips, " but I'm glad to see that Babs kept you company." He sent a grateful glance in Barbara's direction and continued talking – about his day, his worries about Bruce and the JLA members on trial, how his friends were holding up, how much he missed his parents and of course, how much he loved them.

After doing so, the nineteen-year old got up, positioning himself next to the redhead who took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

The two crime-fighters stood there for a moment in complete silence.

Then, after a quick examination of her best friend, Barbara broke it:"Y'know, you really should go to bed, you look like you could pass out any minute."

"Yeah, I probably should. I think I'll skip patrol for tonight..." But then, Dick's eyes wandered to the silhouette of Wayne Manor and his posture tensed.

Barbara knew this couldn't mean anything good; she couldn't help herself but have a heavy sigh leave her lips: "What is keeping you from your well-earned sleep now, Hunk Wonder?"

"I promised Tim to go on patrol with him," the former Robin explained, gnawing his lip nervously.

The young woman only rolled her eyes: "No sweat, bird-brain. **I** can go with the Teen Wonder! - Don't even think about interrupting me," she said fiercely, seeing how her friend was about to protest, "I'd already asked Tim if he wanted to join me, anyway. I mean, we are talking about **Tim** – we both very well know that he's anything but stupid; don't you think he noticed how much work you've got on your hands?! He knows that there is a lot you have to take care of, so I'm pretty sure he'd rather have you spending time with him because you actually want to than have you going with him on patrol only because you feel obligated to do so, especially when you really could use some sleep!

- Okay?" The redhead added more softly.

"Okay..." Dick gave in, defeated. Then he smirked: "You really seem to enjoy giving me a kick in the pants, don't you?"

"You know me well, bird-brain," Barbara grinned back, eyes twinkling mischievously.

After glancing at her watch, she turned a bit more serious: "Gee, it's already past midnight. If I don't turn up soon, Tim will have my head. - And **you** really should head to bed now; don't you have an important meeting tomo-well, today with Captain Atom and Black Canary?"

"How do you know about that?" The acrobat asked surprised.

The redhead smiled impishly and answered in a gruff voice:"I'm Batgirl."

That earned her a small chuckle from her friend.

After picking up the bag she had put down next to her that held her costume, Barbara gave the former Robin a quick peck on the cheek: "Sleep well, Hunk Wonder."

"You too, Babs," Dick replied, smiling. "Oh, and please tell Tim and Alfred I say 'hi' and that I'll visit soon?" he added, while the redhead was already making her way towards Wayne Manor.

"If that is all that keeps you from finally going home, yes," she replied, glancing back at him only to reveal her rolling her eyes.

The first Boy Wonder looked after Barbara until her silhouette disappeared in the shadows of Wayne Manor.

"I don't know what to make of her... - I guess, she's just really one of a kind, don't you think, Dad?" Dick smiled, before saying good-bye to his parents and finally going home to get some sleep.

* * *

**Like it, hate it? Reviews are very much appreciated! :D**


End file.
